Free Riding Star by Stacy Gregg Page B

of you up the field!
    Determined to be the first one to the ball, Daisy was urging her polo pony into the lead, and just as Cameron was about to take a strike at it, Daisy cut in front of him and swung wildly with her mallet.
    â€œFoul!” Cameron raised his stick in the air, and Alex and JP and Mark raised their sticks in unison.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Daisy said indignantly pulling her horse up.
    â€œYou fouled me!” Cameron said. “That was dangerous play, you can’t swing across in front of me like that!”
    â€œOK, OK,” Daisy said, “I get it.”
    Her dangerous play had cost them. The Luhmuhlen boys were given a penalty shot and Cameron took it, nudging the ball from the thirty-yard line, shooting deftly between the goal posts.
    A few moments later Emily and Daisy were totally confused when the boys raced off with the ball and shot for the goal at the opposite end.
    â€œBut that’s our goal!” Emily complained.
    â€œNo, it’s not,” Alice explained. “You swap ends after every goal.”
    It was only four minutes into the chukka, but already the ponies were sweating and heaving from their mad gallops back and forth up the field.
    As the girls headed back to the lineout the score was two-nil against them.
    â€œWe need to get a goal,” Georgie said.
    â€œWell, duhh!” Daisy shot back.
    Georgie ignored this. “Daisy, you need to stay with JP. Don’t worry about where the ball is, just mark JP. He’s their best player – we need to take him out of the game.”
    â€œOK,” Daisy said to Georgie.
    â€œAlice,” Georgie turned to her, “you’re the best player of any of us so stop holding back. Get in there and attack.”
    â€œWhat about me?” Emily asked.
    â€œYou keep back and protect the goal,” Georgie told her. “If the ball comes near you then hit it as hard as you can back up the field. Aim for Alice. She knows what to do.”
    With their tactics sorted, the girls went into the lineout once more. This time, when the ball was thrown in by Cameron it was Alice who got to it first, passing it out to her team mates.
    â€œMine!” Georgie yelled, charging the ball and striking it quickly a second and then a third time.
    She passed the ball to Daisy, but it flew straight past her and over the back line. No goal.
    The boys were in possession once again. Alex knocked it in, with a hard shot that drove the ball sixty yards up the field to Mark, who made a pass to Cameron. Cameron was lining up the ball when Alice swooped down out of nowhere and knee-barged him off his line to steal the shot, driving it with a backhand to Daisy. This time, Daisy managed to get her reins and stick sorted and tapped the ball forward, then chased after it, fending off JP and striking the ball once more towards the goal. The line was smooth and straight and the ball went right between the posts.
    â€œGoal!”
    The girls’ team went wild. It was two to one – they were back in the game!
    Back on the centre line, the boys had possession again and Cameron was just about to take a shot at the goal posts when Alice appeared, barging him again and stealing the ball off him for a second time.
    â€œWill you stop doing that?” Cameron scowled at her and rode his mare hard after her, determined to get the ball back. “It isn’t funny!”
    He caught up with Alice and rode for the ball, leaning right out of the saddle to swing his mallet. It would have been a good shot if Alice hadn’t been too quick for him and flicked it with the lightning-fast swipe that sent it further down the field towards the goal mouth.
    The whole pack turned to chase the ball down. This time the sound of hooves was almost drowned out by the shouts of the players themselves.
    â€œGet out of the way!” Cam yelled at Alice.
    Alice responded by knee-barging him once again, neck-reining Will hard to the